Really Good and Messy

Saturday

Jun 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2007 at 7:14 AM

By Andy PowellTimes Staff Writer

ALBERTVILLE - While the almost 60 teams entered in the fifth annual Albertville Taste of Freedom BBQ Cook-off today can't sell their barbecue to the public, one vendor can.It's a sure bet Governor's Grand Champion BBQ will be busy serving up barbecue pork, beef and chicken.Governor's owner Gary Roberts of Nashville, Tenn., said he debated whether to enter Albertville's competition this year.He finally decided to be a vendor and to sell barbecue to those whose tastebuds have been teased by the clouds of sweet-smelling smoke coming from grills and cookers of all shapes and sizes."They're competing. I'm selling," Roberts said.His trailer has signs listing the different competitions he has won. Roberts said if the festival had needed him to compete he would have but said there already were a lot of good teams competing.Twenty-five teams are competing in the "backyard" competition, and 33 are competing in the professional cooking team category. Judging is to take place around noon today, and winners will be announced at 4 p.m.Roberts said he sells barbecue at about 22 events a year and stays booked from April through October.Roberts expects to sell 140 to 150 racks of ribs, 300 pounds of pork, 150 pounds of beef and about 80 pounds of chicken at the festival.While teams can't sell food, several teams said they may "share" with the public if they have any meat left after getting their entries ready for the judges.Albertville Councilwoman Jeannie Courington will be a judge for the third year in the backyard category. She will be considering presentation and taste in her judging.She said she doesn't barbecue at home."That's why it's so enjoyable. You get to enjoy good barbecue that you can't do at home," Courington said.Last year's grand champion, Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke, owns a catering business in Richmond, Va. He said this is his third time to compete in Albertville, a competition sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society.Stone said he uses hickory in his cooking."I'm a straight wood burner," he said.The festival got started Friday afternoon, with teams preparing for the competition and vendors lining both sides of Main Street.A concert featuring Valor and the Midnighters was Friday evening.Another Southern tradition is to be part of the festival today.A Moon Pie Eating Contest is at 10 a.m., with two categories: 12 and younger and 13 and older.Organizers said they have 350 Moon Pies for contestants as well as plenty of RC Colas to help wash down the confections.In the younger category, the winner is the person who eats the most Moon Pies in 31Ú2 minutes. The older division has 5 minutes to down the treats.Aside from barbecue, contests and shopping, visitors can stop by the children's area and Rod Run at First Baptist Church or take part in a walking tour of downtown.Stiles Clark of Southern Stiles of Huntsville and his partner, Stephen Campbell, said they have participated at the Albertville event each year and were grand champions the first year. Clark said they will be cooking pork butts or shoulders, ribs, chicken and beef brisket to compete for grand champion.He said they compete in 12 to 15 barbecue contests a year."This is just our hobby," Clark said. "This is my bass boat. I don't hunt and fish, I cook."

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